Hair curler



P 1941- M. D. CANNON 2,254,266

HAIR CURLER Filed April 4, 1959 I H WW MERLE D. CANNON Patented Sept. 2, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HAIR CURLER Merle D. Cannon, Waukomia, Okla.

Application April 4, 1939, Serial No. 266,005

(Cl. 13H?) lCiaIm.

This invention relates to hair curling appliances.

It is generally understood that a curl or wave putinhairbyamoistprocessisbetter andmore lastingthancanbeobtainedbyusingdryheat alone.

The primary object of this invention, therefore. is to provide an improved hair curling device, which is capable of generating steam or moist vapors during the curling operation, and which will liberate the steam or. moist vapors in intimate contact with the hair.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hair curling device which can be used to sublest the hair to the action of steam or moist vapors. through one or more openings from the interior of a hair engaging member and which is simple, eilicient and adapted for home use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this type which is compact, self-contained and portable in its entirety.

The invention is particularly adapted to use an electric heating element. such as the well known electric heating elements of the incased or sheathed type. Such elements are particularly adapted for the purpose of supplying the heat necessary to heat the hair and to generate steam or vapors since they are essentially moisture proof and hence the danger of electric shock is minimissed It is, therefore. a further object of invention to provide an electric hair curler of the above type which is essentially shock proof.

For a better understanding of this invention. together with further objects and advantages thereof, reference is had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a hair curler constructed in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is likewise a side elevation par,-

tially in'section to show the internal arrangement of parts; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the perforated sheath surrounding the heating element; Fig. 4 is a heating element.

The construction of the curling iron as iilusat its outer end and adapted to receive the nipple portion I of a rubber bulb I. Arranged within the protuberance 8 is a conventional check valve comprising aball s andretaining spring ill. The detailed construction of member I is more clearly shownin Figure 8.

Mounted within the member I is a water-proof tubular shaped electric heating element II of the sheathed or encased type. The electric heating element II carries threads I2 at one end thereof which cooperate with corresponding threads II on the interior of the member I. These cooperating threads I 2 and II form a substantially water tight union between the corresponding ends of the heating element II and the member I. If desired, suitable packing material may be added to this threaded Joint.

The electric heating element II which is more clearly shown in Fig. 4 male terminal members It projecting from the end thereof ad- Jacent to the threads I2. This electric heating element is of a conventional type and its internal construction will not be described in detail since this forms no part of the present invention.

A suitable hollow handle member I5 is attached to the member I by any suitable means, such as a friction fit. An abutment It is formed onysaid handle member opposite to the thumb operated extension 4 of the clip 2. This arrangement of parts is such that an operator. may hold the hair curler by the handle and separate the members I and 2 by thumb pressure on the extension l. The handle II is preferably formed of a material having a low thermal conductivity. At the end thereof which engages the member I by a friction fit, the handle it carries female contact by a friction fit, the handle Il carries female contact members I1 which are so positioned within the handle ll as to engage the male contact members It when the handle is attached to the member I. Conductors 25 are led through an opening is in the end of the handle I! and one of them is connected to one of the contact members I] and the other is connected to one terminal of a switch 20 carried in the wall of the handle II. The switch 2. may be of any conventional type having a projection 2i whereby it may be operated to close the circuit through conductor}! to the other contact member II.

The hollow member I has a large numberv of tiny holes 23 of capillary siae forming passages from the interior to the exterior thereof. These holes are of such size that water will not readily pass therethrough except lmder a pressure differential. It will be understood that the tiny holes 23 may be arranged in a variety of ways, and that one or more narrow slits might be utilized instead of the plurality of tiny holes. The space it between the member I of the electric heating element ii is comparatively small, the clearance between these members being preferably of the order of 1 mm.

The clip 2 may also have a series of tiny holes 24 therein of similar size and distribution to the holes 28.

In using the improved curling iron of this invention, the hair is first wrapped or wound around the member I and then the current is turned on by operation of the switch 20. The electric heating element II is of such size and capacity that it heats very rapidly. when the heating element II has become hot a few drops of water are injected from the rubber bulb'l through the protuberance I into the space II. The water will tend to ball up" when it hits the hot element il in the same manner as drops of water thrown on a hot stove. Due to the fact that the heating element II and the element 1 are closely spaced, the drops of water are prevented from balling up" and are caused to spread through the space ll. As a result the water begins to immediately vaporize throughout the space II, which results in the formation of steam, and the steam is forced through the holes II into intimate contact with the hair. The check valve carried in the protuberance I prevents the steam from going back into the bulb 8, and the fact that the holes 23 are of capillary size prevents the water from flowing outwardly therethrough until sumcient stream pressure has been built up within the space ll. heating element I I has not attained a sumciently high temperature at the time the water is injected from the bulb l, the water will not now out through the holes 23 until the heating element II gets hot enough to vaporize it and form stream.

As heretofore pointed out, the clip member 2 will be used to hold the hair in place once it is wound around the member I. The holes 24 which are preferably provided in the clip 2 cooperate with the holes 23 in the member I to permit ready passage of the steam through the hair Thus, 1! the' even at the points where the clip 2 is in contact therewith.

While I have described the operation of my improved curling iron in connection with a liquid such as water, it will be understood that I might also use any other suitable liquid, such as some of the well known hair setting iiuids, in the bulb I.

This improved hair curler, which is especially designed. for home use, can also be used to advantage by beauty operators, for example, in testing the eillcacy of various fluids on a particular type of hair. It can also be used to advantage over a dry hot curling iron by either a skilled or unskilled operator when it is desired to produce a relatively small number of curls as is sometimes necessary when the hair grows out or looses a part of its curl.

The expression "closely spaced" as used in the specification and claim is here defined as meaning a space of such a dimension that the liquid introduced between the heating element wall and the perforated wall cannot ball up", when it reaches the heating element, due to surface tension.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto, since many modifications will suggest themselves, and I, therefore, contemplate by the appended claim to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

A device for treating hair with a vaporized liquid comprising a pair of hair engaging members, one of said members having a vapor generating chamber therein and being provided with a plurality of vapor outlets of capillary size through its surface, an electric heating element of the sheathed type arranged in said chamber, the spacing between the sheath of said heating element and the inner walls of said vapor generating chamber being uniformly smaller than the size normally assumed by a drop of said liquid balling up upon contact with the heated surface of said heating element, and means for injecting said liquid into said generating chamber.

MERLE D. CANNON. 

